We humans are difficult to satisfy — I'm no exception. In 2022, my frustration for not feeling I was "contributing to something meaningful (project/product-wise)" was fueled by an offer I received from a Startup based in Vancouver to work on a brand-new product they were developing. I talked to the product founders, underwent several interviews, and met the team.

That's when I decided I'd join UncommonPurpose in this new adventure. I resigned from my previous position, and after the notice period finished, I started to work remotely with the Notimo team.

Continuing with my focus on backend development, here, my main duties were designing, reviewing, developing, testing, and maintaining product features as a Backend Java Developer. Additionally, on a daily basis, I collaborated with the Director of Engineering, Product Owner, and the rest of the team in defining roadmaps and requirements, planning releases, and participating in other scrum-related activities.

Ultimately, the company decided to wind down the project. It was a difficult moment for the whole team, which had invested an enormous amount of energy and effort into making the user experience the best possible.

1 Project Professional Services

This is when I decided to explore the market in Bulgaria. Luckily, someone recommended Tick42 (now interop.io). I had a couple of interviews with them, and in less than a week, I received a nice offer from them.

My time at Tick42 was immensely rewarding, surrounded by highly skilled developers and excellent managers. Occasionally, I had the opportunity to lead a small team, and many times I mentored other developers in my area of expertise, which, by this time, was Backend Development with Java and the Spring ecosystem. I had the opportunity to learn directly from the top management and technical leaders and got involved in projects where I had to interact directly with our clients.

As part of my daily job, I had to design, develop, test, and maintain backend features using Java, running on top of Spring Boot. I also designed and implemented business metrics using Java, Prometheus, and Grafana. As is typical in our profession, I participated in scrum activities and CI/CD processes as part of a multicultural agile team.

3 Projects Fintech Professional Services

By 2018, I was feeling stuck and making little progress in my career path. I decided to look for opportunities abroad, now with 4 years of professional experience under my belt.

In November of that year, I received an offer from Musala Soft, and by the end of March 2019, I had moved to Bulgaria. I officially started working in April.

At Musala, I designed, developed, and tested product features using TypeScript/JavaScript and Java. I participated in pair programming with awesome colleagues from whom I learned a lot. I engaged in daily scrum activities, planning, refinement, retrospective sessions, and knowledge-sharing sessions as part of an agile development team.

Everything was going quite well so far, except for two things: I started to feel like I was doing a "code monkey" job, and I was barely making ends meet (now in a different country/market/cost of living).

1 Project Fintech

It wasn't until I started at ISA - Soluciones en Software that I realized how demanding the software industry can be. Throughout my time there, I worked on three products ^{1 2 3} commercialized mainly in Uruguay and Paraguay.

My team was located in Havana and worked closely with our colleagues in Montevideo to provide product updates and release. During this time, I designed and developed many of these products' features, using JavaScript, Java, and Groovy and Oracle database.

3 Projects Professional Services

Securing my first job at Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas as a professional software engineer after graduating from university was an exhilarating experience. The opportunity to apply the knowledge gained during my studies in a real-world setting was immensely rewarding. I was filled with excitement and enthusiasm to embark on this new chapter in my career, eager to contribute my skills and learn from seasoned professionals in the field.

This milestone marked the transition from academia to the professional realm, and I was thrilled to embark on this journey of growth and development in the software engineering industry. There, I had the responsibility of designing, developing, and maintaining two APIs, using Java and PHP, to integrate clients with an in-house developed reports server.

1 Project Professional Services

I was extremely excited to have received my university diploma from "Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas", Havana, Cuba. The culmination of 5 years of hard work and dedication resulted in an immense sense of accomplishment and pride. Obtaining this credential marked a significant milestone in my academic journey, representing the knowledge and skills I've acquired throughout my studies.